Free His to Keep: A Billionaire Romance (His to Have Book 3) by Piper Hayes

stealing my secretary.”
    “Are you serious?” I ask.  
    “I’m always serious.”  
    “We’ll find a way to work that out,” I tell him. “Thank you,” I add. “I know how hard that must have been for you.
    “This doesn’t mean I like him,” my father says.
    “Not liking him is enough progress for now,” I say.   “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry if I haven’t been the best daughter.”
    “You’re making me proud,” my father says. “I guess forgiveness is in the air, isn’t it?”  
    I nod. I just hope Blake will forgive me for what I have planned next.





CHAPTER 15

    BLAKE

    I don’t know where Cat is. It’s midafternoon. I cut out of work early to see her, but when I got back to the apartment, she wasn’t there. I called her, but the call went straight to voicemail. All I can think about is whether or not Jacob somehow got to her.  
    The last I saw her was when she walked out of my office. Damien told me that he saw her heading out with Ben, but Ben isn’t answering his calls either. Maybe she’s with him. I don’t know. I try to tell myself that everything’s fine, but I can’t ignore the panic that’s eating me from the inside. If I can’t talk with Cat, I figure I should at least talk to someone who can tell me something. I pull my phone out and dial, when I hear the voice on the other end of the line, I feel a wave of relief.  
    “Hey Alex, are you free to talk?” I ask.  
    “Anything for my billionaire kid brother,” she says.  
    “Have you heard from Cat?” I ask. “I know it’s a long shot, but I don’t know where she is. I don’t know how to tell you this, but Jacob is back.”
    I expect a shout or a meltdown or something, but all I get is a cool response. “Blake, she’s probably fine. You need to learn to let go a bit. Jacob is not stalking your girlfriend through the streets of Manhattan.”  
    “I know,” I tell her, “but he made a threat against her. He threatened you, too.”  
    “Blake, I own a bar full of drunken Irishmen who would beat him bloody if he stepped through the door. As for Cat, you’ve got to give her room to breathe.”  
    She’s right. I know she’s right, but I can’t help myself. Since I saw Jacob at the hunting lodge, I’ve been on high alert. All I can think about is Cat’s safety. I need to know she’s ok. “I know,” I tell her. “It’s just hard, sometimes.”  
    “Do you trust her?” Alex asks.  
    Of course, I trust her. I’d trust her with my life. “Yeah,” I say.  
    “Then trust her. If she wants you to know what she’s doing, she’ll let you know.”
    She’s right again. I’m trying to give up control, but I’m just afraid of my past causing her harm. “I just don’t want anything to happen to her.”
    “Take care of yourself, little brother, and she’ll be fine. I promise.”  
    I see the elevator light up. “Hey, I have to go,” I say. “Be careful,” I tell Alex.
    “You too,” she says. “And don’t be stupid,” she adds.
    “Words to live by,” I tell her.
    When the elevator doors open, and Cat steps out, relief floods through my body. “There you are,” I say.
    “Sorry, I went to visit my father,” she says. “I didn’t like how we left things, and I wanted to make sure there aren’t any misunderstandings.”  
    “Are there?” I ask.  
    “Nothing out of the ordinary,” she says.
    Since she accepted her father’s offer, I’ve run through every possible way Richard Carlisle could use his daughter to his advantage, but I’ve never really considered that maybe he’s really trying to reconnect with her, or that she really wanted to reconnect with him. I look at Cat. There’s something she isn’t telling me. I can feel it. But it’s ok. She’ll tell me when she’s ready. I know she will. I trust her.
    “How did your meeting with Ben go?” she asks.  
    Terribly. As poorly as possible. I flipped my shit on him because I’m worried about you. I was